Chapter 14
It was the day of the Valentine’s Ball, and Lonnie was looking forward to getting to work. Training with the group wasn’t the same as being in on the action. While they didn’t expect much to happen that night, it would still be a fun event.
Lonnie put on his tux. It was one he had specially made for events like these. He could move easily in it and still look classy. Then he tucked his gun into the holster under his jacket.
The ball was taking place at the Gilded Hart Hotel, so he only needed to go down to the ballroom from his hotel room. It was part of the reason he stayed there.
Alexis would show up at any time with a delivery of cupcakes for the event, and he was excited to see her. She would also attend the event with Melissa.
He had gone to her store the night before, which was uneventful aside from them working quickly to prepare all the cupcakes for the event tonight.
He joined them again early that morning to help more.
Despite not being much of a baker, he enjoyed spending the time at Alexis’s shop and would miss it after the event ended.
Despite Lonnie keeping an eye out for the weird guy who came into the cupcake shop, they hadn’t seen him or his van that morning. Nor had Lonnie found anything on the license plate of the vehicle. All he could tell was that it was a rental.
Alexis: I’m here.
Lonnie: On my way.
He took the elevator down to the main floor and walked through the ballroom to the service entrance, where Alexis would deliver the cupcakes to the kitchen. He smiled at the kitchen staff and stopped at the back door, propping it open just as Alexis opened her delivery van door.
“Hey, beautiful,” Lonnie said.
“Hey, look at you, handsome,” Alexis said. She wore a long red dress that hugged her down to her waist and then flared out.
Lonnie stepped closer to her and pulled her into a hug. She felt great in his arms, and he only hoped he could spend more time with her before he needed to head back to Texas.
Melissa hopped out of the passenger side of the van wearing a long white dress. “Are we ready to do this?”
Alexis and Lonnie pulled apart. “Let’s go.”
Lonnie stood near the back entrance of the van and looked around.
There was a dark van down the street that looked like it had people in it.
But it wasn’t the same van they saw outside the bakery.
His hair stood on end as if they were being watched.
He made a mental note of the license plate number and then held out his arms.
“Fill me up,” he said.
Alexis laughed and set two large boxes of cupcakes in his arms. “Please don’t drop these. I might cry.”
“Never.” He winked.
He waited for the women to walk inside before following them. They deposited all the boxes on the kitchen counter before walking back out to the van. The other van was still at the end of the street, and Lonnie couldn’t help but get uneasy over it.
They made two more trips out to the van, grabbing more boxes before finally finishing.
“I’m going to go move the van to a parking spot,” Alexis said.
Lonnie held his hand out. “How about you let me do that? You can start setting up the dessert table.”
She smiled and handed him the keys. “If you’re sure?”
“Very.”
“Thank you,” she said.
He smiled and waited for her to walk off before turning and walking out the back door, making sure it locked behind him. He closed the van doors and then slid behind the wheel and pulled out his cell phone, putting it on speaker in his lap.
“What’s going on?” Clint asked.
“Can you run a plate for me?”
“Sure. Things are already happening? The event doesn’t start for another hour.”
“It might be nothing. I just have a weird feeling.”
“What’s the plate?” Clint asked.
Lonnie rattled it off and pulled away from the back entrance of the hotel and drove down the street to circle around to the parking lot. When he drove by the other van, the men stared at him as he stared back before they put theirs in gear and sped off.
Something wasn’t right, but with as many people as there were attending this event, he wasn’t sure who they were after. But he had an uneasy feeling it might have to do with Alexis.
“It’s a rental,” Clint said.
“Any way you can find out who rented it?”
“On it. It’ll take a few minutes though. I’ll call you back.”
They ended the call, and Lonnie parked the van at the back of the parking lot.
He would definitely be walking Alexis to her car later.
He didn’t see the van again as he walked back inside, but he was now on high alert.
The hotel was already getting busy with the paparazzi gathering outside, hoping to see someone famous.
There had been rumors of a famous pop star who might be in attendance, plus some local celebrities.
As promised, Clint called back only a few minutes later. “So the van was rented by a John Doe.”
“Obviously an alias.”
“Yep. So, I did some searching based on the ID they provided to the rental company. The photo is linked to a man named Hugh Jackson. He works for a drug overlord named Vic Espinoza. Vic is currently in prison awaiting trial.”
Lonnie stopped in the hallway outside the ballroom and leaned against a wall. He lowered his voice as people walked by. “What’s he awaiting trial for?”
“It seems his girlfriend witnessed him murder someone. He’s linked to a string of murders, but they’ve never been able to get anything to stick. But his ex agreed to testify.”
“Who’s his ex?”
“Her name is Samantha White. Her whereabouts are unknown, but dude, she looks a lot like Alexis. I’m sending you a photo now.”
Lonnie opened the private texting app they communicated through and stared in horror as Alexis’s face popped onto the screen. There was no doubt in his mind that it was Alexis, just with different colored hair.
“Thanks. Can you pass all this information on to Cass? I want everyone to keep an eye out for these guys,” Lonnie said, rushing into the ballroom.
Alexis stood at the dessert table with Melissa, placing the desserts on display.
He sighed with relief and looked at all the doors.
There were too many entrances to this place.
It would be easy for anyone to come in at any time, especially when there were likely several men in that van, and they had no clue who they were looking for.
“You got it. Would you like Amy and I to come down and help?”
“Please.”
“We’ll be there soon.”
Lonnie ended the call and quickly walked toward Alexis. She smiled up at him, but her face immediately sobered.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
Lonnie took her by the elbow and led her away from the dessert table. “Is there any chance you can have Melissa finish up? I need to talk to you.”
“Sure.” Alexis spoke with Melissa for a second, who said she could handle the rest. Then she followed Lonnie out of the ballroom and to the elevators.
“Where are we going?”
“My room.”
Alexis giggled. “Um. What’s going on?”
Lonnie waited until they were inside the elevator and then looked in both directions before the doors shut. He didn’t see anyone in the lobby to be suspicious of, but he couldn’t be too careful.
“I’ll tell you when we get there.”
Alexis frowned. “You’re scaring me a little.”
Lonnie tugged her to his side, and the elevator doors slid open. “I’m sorry. I just want to talk in private.”
Once they were inside his room, he locked the deadbolt and turned on the privacy lock before turning toward her. Then he scrubbed his face.
“You’re Samantha White. Am I right?” Lonnie searched her face. She paled.
“My name is Alexis,” she said softly.
“Babe. You can trust me. You’re in witness protection because of your ex, Vic. I have reason to believe he sent people here for you. I saw them outside.”
Tears sprang to her eyes, and he immediately pulled her into his chest.
“I’m going to protect you.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
“I need to leave.”
He shook his head. “Moving right now wouldn’t be wise. We don’t know what these men look like. All we know is who one of them is.”
“I need to call the Marshals.”
“Cass is taking care of it.”
“So what do I do?” she asked.
“Can I convince you to stay in my room for the night?”
She shook her head. “If they saw you with me, then they’ll know who you are, too. This is the first place they’d look.”
Lonnie nodded. He had no reason to doubt her judgment. She knew the guy better than any of them. And if this is how she thought Vic would operate, he needed to trust her.
She straightened her shoulders. “Use me as bait.”
Lonnie reared back. “Excuse me?”
“Use me as bait to lure them out.”
“That’s a terrible idea, Alexis. They could have a sniper who could take you out at any point in time.”
She shook her head. “No. That’s too easy. He would want his men to bring me somewhere to torture me. To film it so he could watch.”
The way she said that so confidently made his skin crawl. But he couldn’t see another option.
“Are you sure about this?”
“I’m sure.”
Despite the unease in his chest, Lonnie nodded his head. “Okay. Let’s make a plan.”